All posts tagged: #design

I saw some amazing bathroom designs this weekend. What did you do? I’m not trying to sound fancy and say I walked around with designers all day and saw million dollar home bathroom designs, more like, picture this… Out with my friends for a meal, I politely excuse myself to the restroom. Do I need to use the restroom? Nope, I’m just curious! I walk in, stop, and take in the area. That’s it, although I do make sure to get a good hand washing in for good measure, have to test out that water flow! You can tell a lot about a restaurants culture by the care of their bathrooms. I consider a restaurants bathroom like a person’s “baggage” or “dirty laundry.” We try to hide it, are ashamed of it, hope that no one notices, and even though you insist it doesn’t define you, it’s all people care about. Yes, obviously the actual food quality, service, and ambiance are important but, this post is about my obsession with BATHROOMS! It’s true though! Your …

You know how they say curiosity killed the cat? Well sometimes it gets you off your butt to ask a simple question. Recently I’ve started reading the book, The Healthy Workplace Nudge by Miller Williams O’Neil, a recommendation by a friend. I’ve only just started but what I’ve digested so far is the imperative need for leaders to understand that they are the key factor in the positive or negative health of their employees. If you’re a leader it’s your responsibility to create a healthy work environment because even after they leave work the stresses of the day are carried with them. The big picture so far … We are in a snowball effect that starts with poor physical and mental conditions that leads to increased health bills to increased federal taxes trying to keep up with employee health benefits and finally to corporation layoffs to keep profitability up. It’s a never ending cycle of stress related chronic illnesses, but before we go too far down that road let’s bring it back to the focus …

My freshman and sophomore year there were no real clients just very loose guidelines built to unleash your inner creativity. Since I was new to design my ideas were erratic. It wasn’t until my junior year did I really understand the meaning of “program” and how it fit into the design process. Having this process organized made me feel like I was designing with a purpose and that I had an achievable end goal.

Had I had this bit of knowledge earlier maybe it would’ve made projects seem more realistic and professional. Crazy forms are fun, but in the end we love believing our designs are buildable, for real people in real situations, in an environment we made safe.